Rotary brush



March 1, 1966 F. s. ADAMS new: BRUSH Filed March 25, 1964 FIG. 1

INVENTOR. FLOYD S. ADAMS FIG. 3

3,237,233 ROTARY BRUSH Floyd S. Adams, Rochester, N.Y., assignor toSmada gor fioration, Rochester, N.Y., a corporation of New Filed Mar.25, 1964, Ser. No. 354,560 2 Claims. (Cl. 15-182) This invention relatesto rotary brushes, and more particularly to rotary brushes for cleaningthe peripheral surfaces of rotary metal drums such as are used inmachines for making reproductions with marking powders.

Heretofore brushes of the character described have been made by securingan animal fur or furs as a covering around the whole of the outside of acylindrical core.

Rabbit fur is ordinarily used for making those brushes because rabbitfur is among the more inexpensive of animal furs, and the abrasiveeffect on a metal drum of the proper type rabbit fur is substantiallynil. However, rabbit fur has the disadvantage that it loads up with themarking powders used in reproducing machines of the type abovementioned; and therefore the brushes have to be replaced quite often.Moreover, in many countries suitable rabbit fur is relatively scarce.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved brush of the typedescribed, which has a pile surface of longer life, and which is lessexpensive to manufacture, than prior such brushes.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved brush of thistype, which uses less animal fur than prior brushes, but which willnevertheless have a continuous sweeping action with respect to thesurface of the drum it is to clean.

A further object of the invention is to provide a brush of the characterdescribed which will permit more efircient use of available pieces ofanimal fur than has heretofore been possible.

A more specific object of this invention is to provide an improved brushhaving a pile surface made in part of animal fur, and in part ofsynthetic pile.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent hereinafter from thespecification and from the appended claims, particularly when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a brush made in accordance with oneembodiment of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged end view of this brush; and

FIG. 3 is a developed view on a reduced scale of the flexible sleevewhich forms the outside surface of this brush.

The objects of the present invention are achieved by making the coveringfor the brush core of alternate narrow strips of animal fur andsynthetic fiber. The alternate strips are arranged helically on the coreso that they overlap longitudinally of the core. The synthetic fiberdoes not have sufiicient density to clean the drum thoroughly, but thefur strips, which are preferably made of rabbit fur, can be disposed sothat there is constant contact of fur with the drum to be cleaned. Thus,the desired cleaning qualities of the fur are retained while longer lifeis achieved because the synthetic fiber is far less inclined to load upthan animal furs. Moreover, the available supply of rabbit fur isstretched because less fur is required per brush, and because by usingnarrower strips than heretofore required, when the whole brush has a furcovering, it is possible to use hides which would formerly have to berejected because of defects. Narrow strips of fur suitable for brushesmade according to the present invention can be cut from hides previouslyrejected.

. United States Patent "ice Referring now to the drawing by numerals ofreference, 11 is a brush made in accordance with one embodiment of thisinvention. It comprises a relatively light, rigid, tubular core 12 ofcarboard or the like. Glued or otherwise secured to the exterior of thecore 12 to form a pile surface thereon, and helically wound thereaboutare a pair of diametrally opposed strips 13 of rabbit fur, and a pair ofintervening strips 14 of synthetic acrylic fiber such as Orlon. As shownmore clearly in FIG. 3, these strips 13 and 14 are rhomboidal inconfiguration, and are secured in alternation with one another bystitching together the sides of the strips, as shown, by seams 15. Thefur strips 13 may be, as shown, twice as wide as the fiber strips 14,and preferably the two fur strips are disposed so that their respectivenaps extend in opposite directions with reference to radii of the brush11, thereby to increase the brushing efficiency.

Upon being sewn together, the pairs of strips 13 and 14 define a sleevewhich is adapted to be secured to the outside of the core 12 in a mannersimilar to that described in my copending application, Serial No.168,640, filed January 25, 1962, now Patent No. 3,167,356. When thesleeve, as defined by the interconnected strips 13 and 14, is secured tothe exterior of the core 12, the strips 13 and 14 are disposed helicallyabout the axis 16 of the core. The lead angle of the helix is relativelyslight. In any event, it is desirable that it be sufficient for each furstrip 13 to overlap at its ends the other fur strip so that, when thebrush 11 rotates in engagement with a drum, at least some part of therabbit fur strips 13 will constantly be in touch with the drum.

While it is preferred that the synthetic pile fabric strips 14 be anacrylic fiber such as commonly sold under the tradename Orlon, it is tobe understood that other fibers of comparable rigidness and durabilitymay be used in place thereof.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that applicants improved brushwill produce a substantial saving in the cost of cleaning brushes of thetype described. Since the fur strips 13 are twice as wide as the strips14 of synthetic material, brush 11 uses one-third less fur than priorbrushes. In addition, by using narrowed fur strips 13, it permits therabbit hides to be cut so as to dodge defects in the fur, and permits agiven hide to be stretched further than would be possible in the case ofrelatively wide strips. Moreover, because of the longer-lived syntheticfiber strips, the brush life is increased greatly without producing anyappreciable decrease in the cleaning efliciency of the brush.

While the invention has been described in connection with a specificembodiment thereof, it will be understood that it is capable of furthermodification, and this application is intended to cover any variations,uses, or adaptations of the invention following, in general, theprinciples of the invention and including such departures from thepresent disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the artto which the invention pertains and as may be applied to the essentialfeatures hereinbefore set forth, and as fall within the scope of theinvention or the limits of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A rotary brush for cleaning a drum surface, comprising (a) acylindrical core,

(b) a plurality of spaced strips of soft, dense, animal fur secured onthe peripheral surface of said core, and extending helically about theaxis of said core, and

(c) a plurality of spaced strips of tougher, coarser, synthetic fiberssecured to and covering the remainder of said peripheral surface betweenand juxtaposed to and alternating with said' strips of fur, andextendinghelically about the axis of said core,

((1) each of said fur strips having a portion overlapping the nextadjacent fur strip longitudinally of the core, and having its naporiented, with reference to axial planes through said core, oppositelyrelative to the nap of said next adjacent fur strip.

2. A rotary brush for cleaning marking powder and the like from thesurface of a rotating drum in a reproduction machine, comprising (a) acylindrical core,

(b) a plurality of spaced strips of rabbit fur secured to and coveringapproximately two-thirds of the peripheral surface of said core, andextending helically about the axis of said core,.and

(c) a plurality of spaced strips of synthetic fibers se cured to andcovering the remainder of said peripheral surface in juxtaposition toand alternating with said fur strips, and extending helically about saidcore axis.

(d) each of said fur strips having a portion thereof disposed inaxially-spaced, overlapping relation with the next adjacent fur strip,and having its nap oriented, with reference to axial planes through saidcore, oppositely relative to the nap of said next adjacent fur strip,

(e) said strips of fibers being of harder and less dense pile than saidstrips of rabbit fur, and having greater durability than said rabbitfur.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 176,197 4/ 1876Rogers.

319,056 6/1885 Bender 15235 1,043,533 11/1912 Nolan et a1 15-79 X2,779,964 2/1957 More 15-230.13 2,787,026 4/1957 White 15256.52

20 CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner.

1. A ROTARY BRUSH FOR CLEANING A DRUM SURFACE, COMPRISING (A) ACYLINDRICAL CORE, (B) A PLURALITY OF SPACED STRIPS OF SOFT, DENSE,ANIMAL FUR SECURED ON THE PERIPHERAL SURFACE OF SAID CORE AND EXTENDINGHELICALLY ABOUT THE AXIS OF SAID CORE AND, (C) A PLURALITY OF SPACEDSTRIPS OF TOUGHER, COARSER, SYNTHETIC FIBERS SECURED TO AND COVERING THEREMAINDER OF SAID PERIPHERAL SURFACE BETWEEN AND JUXTAPOSED TO